General Terms & Conditions
1. Introduction
1.1. These Ge dneral Terms and Conditions govern the use of OpenTutor ("the Platform", "our", "us"), an online intermediary service for matching Students and Tutors, as defined below in Article 2, based on their needs, preferences, skills, and availability.
1.2. By using the Platform through the creation of an account, you irrevocably agree to be fully bound by these Terms and Conditions, and these Terms and Conditions shall be effective indefinitely until the termination of your account with us. If you do not agree, you must discontinue the use of the Platform immediately.
1.3. The Platform is operated by Pixel Mango Labs Ltd, a company registered in the United Kingdom, headquartered at 14 Gray"s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8HN with Company No. 16127135.
2. Definitions
In this General Terms and Conditions,
• The term "Student" refers to any User seeking tutoring services for purpose of education.
• The term "Tutor" refers to any User offering tutoring services for purpose of education.
• The term "User" refers to both Students and Tutors.
• The term "Match" refers to the connection made between a Student and a Tutor based on User preferences.
• The term "Third-Party Services" refers to external services integrated into the Platform, including communication applications and payment processors.
• The term "Platform Services" refers to services provided by the Platform to its Users.
• The term "Tutoring Service" is the tutoring service given for educational purposes to the Students pursuant to the request of the Student by the Tutors through the Platform Services, materialising with an online lesson to be given by the Tutor to the Student.
• The term "Account Cancellation and Refund Policy" is the User aggrievement resolution method implemented by the Platform and is articulated in Article 7 below.
3. Platform Services
3.1. The Platform operates as a matching service, facilitating lectures and payments between Students and Tutors for education purposes. The Platform is acting as an on-demand intermediary and technology services provider and does not provide online tutoring services or function as an education institution.
3.2. Platform Services provide connection to Tutors who are willing to be engaged by Students as independent contractors. Accordingly, each Tutor decides when and how often they will be available to provide tutoring services to Students and Tutors decide the methods, materials, content, and all aspects of the tutoring services.
3.3. Students are responsible for selecting a Tutor suitable for their learning goals, and Students should check each Tutor's capabilities before requesting service from a Tutor.
3.4. The contractual relationship of Tutoring Services between the Students and Tutors is established directly between the Students and Tutors, without the Platform being a part of that relationship.
3.5. We do not guarantee successful matches, the accuracy of User profiles, or the quality of services provided by Tutors. Students and Tutors have the sole discretion to accept or reject a request for tutoring services, as well as to continue or discontinue tutoring services at any time.
3.6. While the Platform is not liable for disputes between the Students and Tutors due to tutoring service cancellations, fault in tutoring services, infringement of any rights of Users or third-parties during the Tutoring Service; the Platform applies its Account Cancellation and Refund Policy to remedy User actual or potential aggrievement. Users hereby irrevocably accept to abide by the Account Cancellation and Refund Policy of the Platform.
4. Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure
4.1. Users agree not to disclose, share, or misuse any confidential information obtained through the Platform, including but not limited to Platform algorithms, pricing models, Tutor-Student interactions, internal business strategies, and Platform-specific data.
4.2. Unauthorised sharing or disclosure of confidential Platform information may result in account termination and legal action by our side.
5. Eligibility and Age Verification
5.1. At the moment, the Platform is only serving to residents or nationals of the United Kingdom (the "U.K."). We make no representation that the Platform is appropriate for use outside the U.K., and those who choose to access the Platform outside the U.K. do so on their own initiative and at their own risk.
5.2. Platform Services are intended for real persons. The Platform may require identity verification and reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that fail verification checks. In case you are representing a legal entity, please contact us at support@opentutor.co to clarify and confirm your eligibility.
5.3. Users must be at least 18 years old to register as a Tutor or Student. The Platform is not intended for children under 13 years old. Users under 18 must have parental or guardian consent to use the Platform. Thus, persons under 18 will need to ask their parents or guardians to set up an account on the Platform that they may use under their supervision. The Platform may require age verification and reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that fail verification checks.
5.4. We do our best to provide safe environment for our Users. To do this, we need to know our Users. Accordingly, the Platform requests Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service ("DBS") Checks from its Tutors. While the Platform reserves the right to verify compliance but is not responsible for vetting or ensuring a Tutor's background suitability.
5.5. To avoid any doubt, the Platform does not assess eligibility based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or based on any other categorical information to be considered as discriminatory.
6. User Conduct and Responsibilities
6.1. In general, Users undertake, by way of example and without limitation, to:
• Not use the Platform for illegal or unauthorised purposes,
• Not alter or modify, totally or partially, the Platform, circumventing, deactivating or manipulating in any other way the functions or services of the Platform,
• Not infringe industrial and intellectual property rights or the regulations governing the protection of personal data,
• Not use the Platform to insult, defame, intimidate, violate one's own image or harass other Users,
• Not publish any comment or piece of information that is illegal, racist, xenophobic, obscene, pornographic, abusive, defamatory, misleading, fraudulent or in any way contrary to morality or public order through the Platform,
• Not use the contact information of other Users and of the people registered with the Platform for any purpose, including not sending mass and/or repetitive emails to people, nor send email addresses of third-paries without their consent,
• Not use the Platform as a directory to obtain contact information of the Users to carry out commercial actions or send commercial communications not previously consented by the Users,
• Not to provide inaccurate or untruthful information when registering with the Platform,
• Not to fail attending the class on time,
• Not to fail undertaking the lecture in a way corresponding to the User's profile.
6.2. To avoid any doubt, the Platform adheres to the Online Safety Act 2023, and Users must ensure that their interactions remain lawful and respectful.
6.3. The Platform reserves its right to publish or not to publish or remove any reviews made by its Users about another User.
7. Account Termination, Cancellation and Refund Policy
7.1. The Platform reserves the right to immediately permanently terminate or temporarily suspend the account of any User who violates any of the terms of this General Terms and Conditions, with no need to notify the User in advance or to give time to remedy the violation. To avoid any doubt, in case of User account termination or suspension, the User shall not have the right to request any compensation or damage payment from the Platform.
7.2. Users may only cancel a Tutoring Service lesson by cancelling the relevant booking on the Website. Cancellations made through direct contact with the User, such as by text or phone, and not through the Website, may result in charges still being made to a Student's account. In the event of a Tutor cancelling a Booking, the Student will not be charged any Lesson Fee or, if the Student has paid the Lesson Fee, will receive a full refund.
7.3. Bookings cannot be cancelled after the Lesson has started. Regarding the cancellations before the lesson time:
7.3.1. Tutors are subject to a three-strike system regarding missed lessons. Every missed lesson requires a full explanation, and Tutors accumulating three strikes will face a ban, subject to review.
7.3.2. If a Tutor misses a lesson for any reason, the Student is entitled to a full refund.
7.3.3. If a Student cancels a lesson with less than 24 hours' notice, they will not be eligible for a refund. If the cancellation is made more than 24 hours in advance, they will receive a full refund. Users who frequently cancel without valid reason may face temporary or permanent account termination.
8. Account Ownership
8.1. All intellectual and industrial property in the design and layout of the Platform and the material and information published on the Platform belongs to the Platform, including User accounts. User accounts, including any information uploaded to those accounts by the Users, are properties of the Platform and are not owned by the Users. Users have no right on their User accounts, except a unilaterally revocable contractual right awarded by the Platform to the User to allow the User to use the account for accessing the Platform Services.
8.2. User accounts are personal and cannot be transferred or assigned to third-paries.
8.3. In the event of a User's death or loss of legal capacity, their User account will be permanently closed.
9. Third-Party Services
9.1. The Platform determines the Third-Party Services required for the provision of its services, including but not limited to payment processing, communication tools, and security verification.
9.2. Users are required to utilise these Third-Party Services as designated by the Platform in order to access and use Platform features.
9.3. The Platform is not responsible for any issues, disruptions, or liabilities arising from the use of Third-Party Services, and Users should review the terms and conditions of such services separately.
9.4. In no event shall any reference to any third-party or third-party product or service be construed as an approval or endorsement by the Platform of that third-pary or of any product or service provided by a third-pary. The Platform does not endorse, warrant, or guarantee any product or service offered by any third-pary and will not be a party to or in any way monitor any transaction involving any third-party providers of products or services. As with the purchase of a product or service through any medium or in any environment, you are responsible for exercising caution and good judgment.
10. No General Platform Duty
10.1. The Platform does not intervene in the relationship between the Users and does not intervene in the way Users are creating their User accounts. Accordingly, the Platform shall not be deemed the publisher, speaker or moderator of the content provided by the Users. Users are responsible for the content uploaded, moderated or communicated through the Platform and Third-Party Services.
10.2. The Platform is not under any obligation to monitor the activities of its User, unless a third-party claiming that a User activity violates its rights duly notifies the Platform about its claim. Only then the Platform may assess to monitor that particular activity and may act pursuant to applicable law.
11. Payment Processing and Commissions
11.1. Students will make payments at the time of booking through an external payment Platform providing Third-Party Services designated by the Platform. Payments must be completed before the lesson is confirmed.
11.2. Tutors will receive their payments at the end of each week, covering all successfully completed lessons during that period. The Platform charges a 15% commission per session, which will be deducted before payment is made to the Tutor. The commission rate may be adjusted based on market conditions, and Tutors will be notified in advance of any changes.
11.3. The Platform does not handle or store payment information directly and is not responsible for payment disputes due to Third-Party Services. Since payments and fund holding are managed by Third-Party Services, the Platform does not store financial data, process transactions directly, or have access to User payment details. Users should refer to the third-party payment provider's policies for any concerns regarding transactions.
11.4. The Platform adheres to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and E-Commerce Regulations 2002 to ensure transparency in online transactions. Users will be provided with clear terms regarding services, payments, cancellations, and refunds where applicable.
12. Tax Responsibilities
12.1. Tutors using the Platform are self-employed contractors and do not require a signed contract to provide tutoring services through the Platform. They are solely responsible for their own tax obligations, including income tax, National Insurance contributions, and any other applicable taxes under U.K. law.
12.2. The Platform does not deduct taxes, provide tax documentation, or report Tutor earnings to authorities. Tutors are advised to consult with a tax professional regarding their obligations.
13. Competition and Promotion
13.1. Tutors are responsible for ensuring that their participation in the Platform does not violate any of their agreements with third-paries. The Platform is not responsible for any conflicts arising from such external commitments of the Tutors.
13.2. The Platform does not provide advertising or promotional materials for individual Tutors. Tutors may state on their CVs or professional profiles that they offer tutoring services via the Platform; however, they must not misrepresent themselves as employees or official representatives of the Platform.
13.3. Tutors may promote their tutoring services on the Platform through their own marketing methods, provided they comply with applicable laws and regulations. The responsibility for legal compliance in self-promotion rests solely with the Tutor.
13.4. Students are solely responsible for how they utilise tutoring services. The Platform is not responsible for academic obligations, submission of assignments, or adherence to restrictions imposed by any educational institution.
13.5. The Platform may offer marketing incentives, including but not limited to referral bonuses, discounts, or additional earnings for high-performing Tutors. These incentives are discretionary and subject to change at the Platform's sole discretion.
14. Technical Safeguards
14.1. All lessons are recorded and stored for security purposes on an encrypted server and will only be reviewed by the Platform in case there is a dispute about the Users or requested by law enforcement authorities.
14.2. The Platform strives to maintain a secure and stable technical infrastructure to ensure Users can access services efficiently and safely.
14.3. However, the Platform is not responsible for any cyberattacks, system failures, or service disruptions caused by technical issues within the Platform, Third-Party Services, or User devices.
14.4. Users are responsible for ensuring their devices and internet connections meet the technical requirements necessary to use the Platform and Third-Party Services effectively.
15. Circumventing the Platform
15.1. Students and Tutors shall only receive and perform Tutoring Services through the third-party applications integrated with the Platform. Users agree not to engage in off-Platform transactions for services initiated through the Platform. All payments must be processed through the designated payment system.
16. Dispute Resolution
16.1. Before initiating any legal action against the Platform or its Users, Users must notify the Platform in writing through support@opentutor.co, providing details of the dispute. Users are required to allow the Platform a reasonable period to resolve the issue before escalating the matter to external dispute resolution bodies or legal authorities.
17. Amendments to Terms
17.1. The Platform may alter these Terms and Conditions at any time, unilaterally with no need to notify the Users in advance. In any case, the continued use of the Platform constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
18. Notifications and Communications
18.1. All official notifications and communications between the Platform and Users shall be made via email.
18.2. Notifications sent via email shall be considered legally binding and deemed received upon successful transmission to the User.
18.3. The address and contact details provided during account registration will be considered the official contact details for notifications.
19. Miscellaneous
19.1. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be held to be illegal, void, invalid or unenforceable under the laws of any jurisdiction, the legality, validity and enforceability of its remainder shall not be affected.
19.2. These General Terms and Conditions incorporate by reference the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy of the Platform. Users acknowledge and agree to comply with these additional policies while using the Platform. Any conflicts between these Terms and any other policies shall be resolved in favor of these Terms unless explicitly stated otherwise.
19.3. These General Terms and Conditions set forth the entire agreement and understanding between the parties and supersedes all previous statements, documents and negotiations relating to the subject matter of it provided that nothing in this clause purports to exclude any liability for any representation made fraudulently.
20. Governing Law
20.1. These General Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England.
20.2. Any disputes arising shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
21. Contact Information
For any questions regarding these General Terms and Conditions, please contact us at support@opentutor.co.